Care of our Common Home - Ecology resources

This is a new weekly reflection series created by the Salesian Cosmology Group for our diocesan weekly e-newsletter, to help us all to take small positive steps in our care for our common home.

Ash Wednesday, February 14th 2018: A Space for Ecology/Cosmology

In the coming weeks we will focus on growing our awareness of the “Common Home” we all share.

The encyclical “Laudato Si” opens with the words “Praise be to you, my Lord”, words made memorable by St. Francis of Assisi. Our common home is one we share with all nature, every creature, every human being. It calls us to develop a mindset of connectedness and interdependence. There is no division or separation-when one suffers, all suffer; when one is in need all are in need; we live mindful of all of life.

A beautiful video reflection on Pope Francis 'Prayer for all the Earth' is available HERE. Please take a moment to pray with us as you watch. Thank you

Image is from Howleys Quay, Limerick city - looking our to the Shannon river.

21st February 2018 A Space for Ecology/Cosmology

Our world is alive, complex, beautiful, finite, hurting and it is our home. We take pride in our homes, care for them, carry out repairs, keep them maintained and pass them on to the next generation. Can we broaden this vision to the earth, our common home. Can we take responsibility for its care by the way we live-our use of water; our recycling habits; our consumption of food? Can we take notice of the causes of war, changes in climate patterns, the plight of the displaced and refugees? Can I live more simply so that others can simply live?

Ecological Footprint-your ecological footprint is how much land you use through everyday activity. The average size of Ireland’s footprint is 2.38 hectares per person (1 hectare =2.471 acres). The average ecological footprint for each person on the earth is 2.8 hectares. There are only 2 hectares of land on earth per person! And remember that at least 12% of land is need for other species.

Water: “fresh drinking water is an issue of primary importance, since it is indispensable for human life and for supporting terrestrial and aquatic systems...some countries have areas rich in water while others endure drastic scarcity” (LS 28).

Why not review your use of water? Get perspective- 4 of 10 people worldwide lack sufficient water, which start at 50 litres per person per day. How much water do you use compared to people around the world?

Some facts: Over half the refugees worldwide come from just 3 countries-Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan. More than half the refugees around the globe are under the age of 18. A total of 2.8 million refugees live in refugee camps.

Pope Francis in Laudato Si calls us to gratitude when he says: "One expression of this attitude is when we stop and give thanks to God before and after meals. I ask all believers to return to this beautiful and meaningful custom. That moment of blessing, however brief, reminds us of our dependence on God for life; it strengthens our feeling of gratitude for the gifts of creation; it acknowledges those who by their labours provide us with these goods; and it reaffirms our solidarity with those in greatest need." (LS 227)

A simple recommendation we can all take on in the Easter season is to give thanks both before and after meals. A hymn of Gratitude for us to listen to is HERE

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April 11th 2018: A Space for Ecology/Cosmology

“You Raise me up to more than I can be”.

In these Easter days we experience resurrection, new life for the whole cosmos, the whole universe. As you go to today’s link take in the words, the scenery, the music. Taste the wonder and the richness of a world renewed by the presence of God.

Sunday 22nd April is “Earth day”. Earth Day is a day of global action calling for the better care of our planet earth by its stewards, humanity. The action point for this year is “End Plastic Pollution”.

From poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our waste streams and landfills, the exponential growth of plastics is now threatening the survival of our planet. In response, Earth Day 2018 is dedicated to providing the information and inspiration needed to fundamentally change human attitude and behavior about plastics.

An Irish Times editorial, entitled “A Plastic Plague”, lists how plastic is very functional and is used for a wide number of activities. It is important in food safety, transport and medicine. Campaigning for its complete elimination is probably unrealistic. However, we need to have a more critical examination of our use of plastic. Above all we need to find more sustainable ways to deal with its management.

”A change in lifestyle could bring healthy pressure to bear on those who wield economic and social power. This is what consumer movements accomplish by boycotting certain products. They prove successful in changing the way businesses operate, forcing them to consider their environmental footprint and their patterns of production”. Laudato Si 206, Pope Francis.

Drink bottles are one of the most common types of plastic waste.

In 2016 a million plastic bottles were sold per minute!

Can you move from plastic one-use bottles to reuseable bottles this week?

" The notion of the common good also extends to future generations. The global economic crises have made painfully obvious the detrimental effects of disregarding our common destiny, which cannot exclude those who come after us. We can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity. Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others." (Laudato Si 159, Pope Francis)

In the light of LSi159, Christian groups should be at the forefront of those trying to protect our oceans from becoming a plastic sink. They should campaign to remove all single-use plastics (That is plastics used only once and then thrown away) by 2020. This campaign is essential because, the oceans where life began and thrived for billions of years is seriously threatened. ...And we have caused it.

David Attenborough points out that “pieces of plastic in the oceans will soon outnumber fish”. Of course, plastic is dangerous for all marine and bird life because they eat the plastic debris, mistaking it for food and so they can choke and starve to death.

Watch ”Ocean of Garbage” to learn more about the effect of our overuse of plastic on Gods creation